Maybe 1967; I'm not really sure. But, in any case, that's me behind the ghost mask. It wasn't until just this minute, while typing this post, that I realized that it wasn't a Casper the Friendly Ghost; but some kind of ghoulish ghost. Yikes!

Saturday, October 28, 2006

I remember our last October in the US (2002). We were at Target in Tulsa looking at the Halloween aisle junk. We got to the end of it and foundpumpkinsandghostson one side, and the beginnings ofChristmasjunkon the other side of the aisle.

Well, it is just like that here in Hong Kong. Audrey and I went to the mall this morning while Emily and Mom went to a birthday party. While at the mall, we discovered that Crabtree & Evelyn had already put their Christmas display in the window! Here it is!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Nope, not here! The World Series is playing as I type this, but is it on TV here? NO WAY! I have about 6 "sports" stations on my pitiful cable system, but a quick run through shows, 1. Soccer, 2. Horse racing results. 3. a swimming match somewhere, 4. Cricket, 5. Soccer, 6. rugby. Yee Haa!!!

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Yes, that's right! The HK Legislature has passed a law banning smoking in public places including restaurants, parks, and even beaches!

Read about it here:

Hong Kong smokers told to butt out in public October 19 2006 at 04:24PM

By James PomfretHong Kong - Hong Kong legislators on Thursday passed a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces, as well as restaurants, parks and beaches starting from January 1 next year.

But bars, saunas, nightclubs and mahjong parlours, serving people aged over 18, will be exempted from the ban till mid-2009.

"This is going to send a very strong message to our next generation, that smoking is not tolerated as it once was," said Dr Homer Tso, chairman of the Council on Smoking and Health.

According to Hong Kong government statistics there were nearly 800 000 daily smokers in the city of 6.9 million last year, representing some 14 percent of the population.

While not as high as countries like France, Japan or China - Hong Kong's total health related costs from active and passive smoking have been estimated by the University of Hong Kong at HK$5.3 billion (about R5,1-billion) per year.

Several European countries, such as Italy and Ireland, as well as cities in Australia and the United States have similar smoking bans. The government angered lawmakers before the bill was passed, saying it wanted to consider the practicality of building "smoking rooms" in public venues like restaurants. The government had previously ruled out such a move.

"Smoking rooms can't be accepted," said Andrew Cheng, a Democratic party lawmaker, who accused the government of making a U-turn under pressure from the catering and tobacco industries. But the government denied any political compromise, stressing the smoking room idea was just a proposal and would require legislative approval even if it were to go ahead. "We must give a little space for (smokers) to gradually adjust, this is the government's position," said the Health Secretary York Chow.

Despite the 30-month grace period for bars, karaokes and mahjong parlours, the industry eventually foresees heavy layoffs and even closures, given their heavy reliance on patronage from smokers.

"What has left a bad taste in my mouth is that the government has been insisting all along that the smoking ban is going to help our business, rather than acknowledging that the smoking ban is going to hurt them," said lawmaker Tommy Cheung, an ardent critic of the ban who represents the catering sector.

When you are flat on your back with your head nailed to the floor, all you can do is look up.

I had a very nice morning with Sally at the mall. She got a new pair of Reboks. She had gone out to the girls' school to help in Emily's class and was able to leave a bit earlier to an assembly. So, I met her at Festival Walk for coffee and tea at Pacific Coffee. Audrey called us this afternoon to come get her at school. She wasn't feeling well. The air conditioner repairmen came to fix the A/C. It is nice and cool in our living room tonight.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

It seems like every Tuesday has trouble of its own; not in the sense that each day is a different day, but in the sense that every Tuesday, something goes wrong. Every Tuesday, I go to Shekou for language study. I have felt that it is the right thing to do. Sally affirms me on it. However, without fail, EVERY Tuesday that I have gone, something bad happens at home, whether it is a problem at school, a sick kid, an air conditioner gone haywire.Yesterday was no exception. It was a bad Tuesday. And I wasn't there to help.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Today, Sally and I had lunch at HK Hard Rock Cafe. They have a great affordable lunch special. Anyway, they were playing their ususaly HRC repatoire of rock songs. We even watched "Le Freak". Being the people watcher that I am, I simply noticed that during the music videos, most people continued to talk and eat and would OCCASIONALLY look up at the video. However, they played Elvis singing "Jail House Rock" from his '69 Comeback Tour in Hawaii (the one where he wears the black leather suit). I kid you not; the whole restaurant got quiet as everyone's attention was focused on "the king".

It is amazing to think that a 37 year old music video of a man who has been dead for 29 years could still command the attention of an entire restaurant of people.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Well, maybe not a catastrophe, but perhaps a tragedy. Well, maybe that is a bit too strong, too. How about, last night we avoided a really nasty nuisance. It all began 1 year ago when we went to Reasor's in Tulsa and bought what we thought was 2 years worth of Griffin's syrup. For those of you outside the Oklahoma umbrella, you might not have heard of Griffin's, but let me assure you, they will serve it in Heaven!

Anyway, back to the story. Sally wasn't feeling exceedingly wonderful, so I was going to fix my famous (?) waffles. As I was getting everything "set up", I couldn't find the opened bottle of Griffin's that we keep in the fridge. I went into a near panic, because, after all, Log Cabin just ain't the same. I searched in every kitchen cabinet, behind every roll of paper towel, all I could find was some maple flavored syrup like substance that we had to pick up in Thailand when we really did run out there. Anyway, I pulled out the Thai syrup and tasted it to make sure it hadn't fermented. (That can be a NASTY surprise on a nice stack of pancakes, let me tell you!) Anyway, it was OK. All this time, Sally was laying down because she wasn't feeling great. She finally came in the living room and I was ranting about the tragedy of having to use the Thai syrup. She calmly went to the laundry room, opened up the cabinet door above the washing machine, and voila, our own little stash of Griffin's.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

I had a little discussion with my Mandarin teacher about holidays. She explained that many Chinese festivals depend on the lunar calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar that most of the world uses. For example, today, on the Gregorian calendar, it is October 11, 20o6. Today, on the lunar calendar, it is the 8th month, 20th day (or August 20). We looked up my birthday and found that I was born on the 6th month, 7th day. To look up your birthday on the lunar calendar, you can go here.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Well, it is amazing that we have lost 2 games and we are still in the top 25. Perhaps everyone recognizes that fiasco with Oregon shouldn't count as a loss. However, if we would quit just handing the ball over to the other team as a gift, we might win more.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

It is OU-Texas week. Nothing in the world like it. I remember my senior year at OU, I had seats on the 50 yard line about 35 rows up. It was incredible, except that on the 50 yard line, you sit right next to the Texas crowd. Some of them can be down-right rude.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

This was the finale of the Hong Kong (China) National Day celebration tonight at Victoria Harbor. Supposedly, there were 38,000 fireworks at a cost of HK$3,000,000. ($385,000 USD). It lasted for 23 minutes and it was totally incredible. We tried to get closer, but the multitudes of people just prohibited it.